


lost in the city (urban loneliness)

by sugaquills



Series: all the ghosts that haunt me [2]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen, Hades Is Not A Good Parent, Hades' A+ Parenting, Human Disaster Alexander Hamilton, Poor Nico, eliza is perfect, even as a child nico can't be happy, no focus on the hamliza
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-29 00:07:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15060764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugaquills/pseuds/sugaquills
Summary: sometimes, nico sees wisps of smoke floating around. sometimes he sees the pale silhouettes of people who vanish under the light of the sun.and sometimes the people talk to him.





	lost in the city (urban loneliness)

**Author's Note:**

> based off a couple of head canons:  
> – after staying in elysium for over 100 years the dead get the power to visit earth.  
> – only hades' kids can see the dead.  
> – aham will fight any and all gods who neglect and abuse their children, aka all of them at this point.
> 
> song title from my own work.

he's four, maybe, and wandering the venetian streets. it's hard to tell, now that his memories have faded away. nico stays in the shadows, running through alleyways, hopping over boxes and laughing joyfully. time passes by quickly, and before he knows it the sun is a thin line on the horizon and he's got a stitch in his side and he doesn't know where he is.

"hello?" nico asks quietly. he doesn't know where he is.

the shadows seem darker, now. some harsh edge clings to them and draws nearer to him. his heart pounds, and acid burns in the back of his throat. "i... is anyone there?" a quiet humming echoes in the air. he continues to look around, but he can't find anyone he knows.

nico asks, "bianca?"

but she's not there.

there is, however, a woman. she is wearing a mint green dress and humming a tune under her breath. there's a pale, translucent quality to her skin. "...oh." she murmurs, when she sees him. "hello. are you lost?"

"i– yeah," nico says. "can you help me find my sister?"

the woman seems confused, maybe a bit shocked, but agrees to help him. "alright. where do you live?" she asks. "i'll walk you back."

nico smiles and lists off his address slowly. he's not sure if he's got the right number or not, but he's pretty certain they're number thirteen. so he tells the woman that, and she smiles and begins to lead him back home.

eliza, as he learns the woman's name is, is very nice. she tells him a recipe for cookies he is sure to remember, and funny stories about her husband and children and siblings.

"cool," nico breathes out. "d'you think peggy would like me?"

"i'm sure she would," eliza says. "i'll pass on a message to her. tell her that, 'little nico di angelo wants to be your best friend.' sound right?"

"yep!" nico hums. he comes to a halt in front of his house, where his mama's sat on the doorstep.

nico beams at eliza. "there's mama!" he tells her. "i'm gonna have to go now, 'li-za. i'm sure mama was worried about me."

"okay, nico," she whispers.

"remember to tell peggy i want to be her friend?"

eliza laughs. "of course." and as nico runs back to his family she sighs; because eliza's heard whispers, whispers about children of hades living in italy and a little boy named nico. hades, for all that he is a powerful god, can never deal correctly with children, and nico is just one of many examples of that.

 

* * *

 

 

"peggy!" eliza slings an arm over her sister's neck, her dress of golden silk. "how are you?"

"exactly like i always am." peggy says dully. "bored. what about you? you seem excited."

"i am," eliza states, "i met a kid today. he's nice, pegs, you'd like him! he's a big fan of yours."

peggy blinks. "there's something else."

"you know those rumours about hades' kids?"

"uh, yeah? who doesn't?"

"they're true."

peggy rubs the bridge of her nose. "what the fuck."

"also hades never visits them, their mom struggles to support them and they're very easily isolated because nobody wants to be associated with them." eliza adds helpfully.

(it takes an impressive amount of effort to get peggy to calm down and maybe not punch hades, and even then she only calms down because alexander promises to punch hades for her.)

(he does, and the amount of force pushed into the punch actually breaks hades' nose. of course, it heals within seconds, but it's satisfying all the same.)


End file.
